Radio (NR) for spectrum sharing

ABSTRACT

Wireless communications systems and methods related to coordinating shared radio resources for spectrum sharing are provided. A spectrum resource control unit allocates a first resource for exclusive access by a first network operating entity in a spectrum. The exclusive access is configured for at least one of a network information communication or a feedback communication. The spectrum resource control unit allocates a second resource in the spectrum for shared access by the first network operating entity and a second network operating entity. The shared access is configured for at least a downlink control information communication. The spectrum resource control unit transmits, to the first network operating entity and the second network operating entity, a configuration indicating the first resource allocated for exclusive access by the first network operating entity and the second resource allocated for shared access by the first network operating entity and the second network operating entity.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/664,528, filed Apr. 30, 2018,which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fullyset forth below and for all applicable purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to wireless communication systems, and moreparticularly to coordinating shared radio resources for spectrumsharing.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wirelessmultiple-access communications system may include a number of basestations (BSs), each simultaneously supporting communications formultiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as userequipment (UE).

To meet the growing demands for expanded mobile broadband connectivity,wireless communication technologies are advancing from the LTEtechnology to a next generation new radio (NR) technology. For example,NR is designed to provide a lower latency, a higher bandwidth orthroughput, and a higher reliability than LTE. NR is designed to operateover a wide array of spectrum bands, for example, from low-frequencybands below about 1 gigahertz (GHz) and mid-frequency bands from about 1GHz to about 6 GHz, to high-frequency bands such as millimeter wave(mmWave) bands. NR is also designed to operate across different spectrumtypes, from licensed spectrum to unlicensed and shared spectrum.Spectrum sharing enables operators to opportunistically aggregatespectrums to dynamically support high-bandwidth services. Coordinationof resource usages among different operating entities can be importantfor spectrum sharing.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

For example, in an aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes allocating, by a spectrum resource control unit,a first resource for exclusive access by a first network operatingentity in a spectrum shared by the first network operating entity and asecond network operating entity, the exclusive access configured for atleast one of a network information communication or a feedbackcommunication; allocating, by the spectrum resource control unit, asecond resource in the spectrum for shared access by the first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity, the sharedaccess configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and transmitting, by the spectrum resource control unitto the first network operating entity and the second network operatingentity, a configuration indicating that the first resource is allocatedfor exclusive access by the first network operating entity and thesecond resource is allocated for shared access by the first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, by a first wireless communicationdevice, a configuration indicating a first resource and a secondresource in a spectrum shared by a first network operating entity and asecond network operating entity, the first resource allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource allocated for shared access by the second network operatingentity, the first wireless communication device associated with thefirst network operating entity; communicating, by the first wirelesscommunication device with a second wireless communication device, atleast one of network information or a feedback using the first resource;and transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, downlinkcontrol information to reserve the second resource.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes aprocessor configured to allocate a first resource for exclusive accessby a first network operating entity in a spectrum shared by the firstnetwork operating entity and a second network operating entity, theexclusive access configured for at least one of a network informationcommunication or a feedback communication; and allocate a secondresource in the spectrum for shared access by the first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity, the sharedaccess configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and a transceiver configured to transmit, to the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity, aconfiguration indicating that the first resource is allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource is allocated for shared access by the first network operatingentity and the second network operating entity.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes atransceiver configured to receive a configuration indicating a firstresource and a second resource in a spectrum shared by a first networkoperating entity and a second network operating entity, the firstresource allocated for exclusive access by the first network operatingentity and the second resource allocated for shared access by the secondnetwork operating entity, the apparatus associated with the firstnetwork operating entity; communicate, with a wireless communicationdevice, at least one of network information or a feedback using thefirst resource; and transmit downlink control information to reserve thesecond resource.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments. It should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications network thatsupports spectrum sharing among multiple operators according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary user equipment (UE) accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station (BS) according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network unit according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a priority access license (PAL) spectrum sharingscheme according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a PAL spectrum sharing scheme according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a PAL spectrum sharing scheme according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a general authorized access (GAA) spectrum sharingscheme according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a spectrum sharing scheme for sharingbetween PAL users and GAA users according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a spectrum sharing coordination methodaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a spectrum sharing method according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownstructures and components are shown in block diagram form in order toavoid obscuring such concepts.

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications systems,also referred to as wireless communications networks. In variousembodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wirelesscommunication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA)networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA)networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSMnetworks, 5^(th) Generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, as well asother communications networks. As described herein, the terms “networks”and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and thelike. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Inparticular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that usesE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsprovided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project”(3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These variousradio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. Forexample, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is acollaboration between groups of telecommunications associations thataims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phonespecification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whichwas aimed at improving the UMTS mobile phone standard. The 3GPP maydefine specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobilesystems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure is concerned withthe evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyondwith shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using acollection of new and different radio access technologies or radio airinterfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diversespectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented usingan OFDM-based unified, air interface. To achieve these goals, furtherenhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition to developmentof the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NR will becapable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internet ofthings (IoTs) with an ultra-high density (e.g., ˜1M nodes/km²),ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10 s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g.,˜10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability toreach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control withstrong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, orclassified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999%reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜1 ms), and users with wideranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobilebroadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜10 Tbps/km²), extremedata rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates),and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms withscalable numerology and transmission time period (TTI); having a common,flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features with adynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD)/frequency divisionduplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wireless technologies, such asmassive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave(mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding, and device-centricmobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR, with scaling ofsubcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operating diverse servicesacross diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. For example, in variousoutdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3 GHz FDD/TDDimplementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz, for exampleover 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like BW. For other various outdoor andsmall cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3 GHz, subcarrierspacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHz BW. For other variousindoor wideband implementations, using a TDD over the unlicensed portionof the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occur with 60 kHz over a160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with mmWavecomponents at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 120 kHzover a 500 MHz BW.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI fordiverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example,shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, whilelonger TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficientmultiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start onsymbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integratedsubframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, andacknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integratedsubframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-basedshared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexiblyconfigured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink anddownlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are furtherdescribed below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may beembodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure,function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative andnot limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level ofskill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein maybe implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or moreof these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatusmay be implemented or such a method may be practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example,a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus,and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium forexecution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect maycomprise at least one element of a claim.

The present application describes mechanisms for coordinating sharedradio resources for spectrum sharing. The disclosed embodiments mayemploy a spectrum resource control unit for the coordination. Thecoordination can be among priority access license (PAL) users and/orgeneral authorized access (GAA) users. For sharing among PAL users, thespectrum resource control unit can assign each PAL operator withexclusive access resources and prioritized shared access resources. Anexclusive access resource is a guaranteed resource for exclusive accessby a corresponding assigned PAL operator. The spectrum resource controlunit can configure the assigned PAL operator to communicatetime-critical channels and signals (e.g., network information signalsand feedback signals) using the exclusive resource. The spectrumresource control unit can assign each PAL operator with an accesspriority for each prioritized shared access. Thus, a low-priority PALoperator may monitor the prioritized shared access resource for areservation from a higher priority PAL operator and may only access theresource opportunistically when the higher priority operator does notutilize the resource.

In an embodiment, to enable NR Release 15 devices to support spectrumsharing, the spectrum resource control unit can coordinate resources(e.g., the exclusive access resources) for transmissions of NR Release15 signals, such as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), systeminformation (SI), paging, random-access channel (RACH) signals, hybridautomatic repeat request (HARQ) and channel state information (CSI)feedbacks, which may have critical timing constraints. In addition, thespectrum resource control unit can coordinate the use of NR Release 15signals, such as downlink control information (DCI), demodulationreference signal (DMRS), channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS), and/or sounding reference signal (SRS) for channel reservationrequests and/or channel reservation responses for the prioritized sharedaccess.

In an embodiment, for sharing among GAA users, the spectrum resourcecontrol unit can assign each GAA operator with exclusive accessresources but may allocate shared access resources for contention-basedshared access by all GAA operators.

Aspects of the present application can provide several benefits. Forexample, the reuse of NR Release 15 signals and messages as channelreservations and/or responses allow the deployment of spectrum sharingamong NR Release 15 devices without introducing new messages and/or newchannel signals. The scheduling of the exclusive access resources canenable timing-critical signals and/or applications to meet timingconstraints. The disclosed embodiments are suitable for use with anytypes of wireless communication technologies. For example, the disclosedembodiments can enable spectrum sharing among NR Release 15 devicesusing signals and/or messages as defined in the NR Release 15. Thedisclosed embodiments can be applied to future NR Releases to providesystem performance improvements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 100 may be a 5Gnetwork. The network 100 includes a number of base stations (BSs) 105and other network entities. A BS 105 may be a station that communicateswith UEs 115 and may also be referred to as an evolved node B (eNB), anext generation eNB (gNB), an access point, and the like. Each BS 105may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to this particular geographic coveragearea of a BS 105 and/or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area,depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a smallcell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. Amacro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEswith service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, suchas a pico cell, would generally cover a relatively smaller geographicarea and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptionswith the network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, wouldalso generally cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restrictedaccess by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in aclosed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like).A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a smallcell may be referred to as a small cell BS, a pico BS, a femto BS or ahome BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the BSs 105 d and 105 e may beregular macro BSs, while the BSs 105 a-105 c may be macro BSs enabledwith one of three dimension (3D), full dimension (FD), or massive MIMO.The BSs 105 a-105 c may take advantage of their higher dimension MIMOcapabilities to exploit 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuthbeamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The BS 105 f may be asmall cell BS which may be a home node or portable access point. A BS105 may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like)cells.

The network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. Forsynchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may be approximately aligned in time.For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and eachUE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also be referred to asa terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, or the like.A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, or the like. In one aspect, a UE 115 may be a devicethat includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In anotheraspect, a UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In someaspects, the UEs 115 that do not include UICCs may also be referred toas IoT devices or internet of everything (IoE) devices. The UEs 115a-115 d are examples of mobile smart phone-type devices accessingnetwork 100 A UE 115 may also be a machine specifically configured forconnected communication, including machine type communication (MTC),enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. The UEs 115e-115 k are examples of various machines configured for communicationthat access the network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate withany type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like. In FIG.1, a lightning bolt (e.g., communication links) indicates wirelesstransmissions between a UE 115 and a serving BS 105, which is a BSdesignated to serve the UE 115 on the downlink and/or uplink, or desiredtransmission between BSs, and backhaul transmissions between BSs.

In operation, the BSs 105 a-105 c may serve the UEs 115 a and 115 busing 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques, such ascoordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. The macro BS 105 dmay perform backhaul communications with the BSs 105 a-105 c, as well assmall cell, the BS 105 f. The macro BS 105 d may also transmitsmulticast services which are subscribed to and received by the UEs 115 cand 115 d. Such multicast services may include mobile television orstream video, or may include other services for providing communityinformation, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alertsor gray alerts.

The network 100 may also support mission critical communications withultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices, such asthe UE 115 e, which may be a drone. Redundant communication links withthe UE 115 e may include links from the macro BSs 105 d and 105 e, aswell as links from the small cell BS 105 f. Other machine type devices,such as the UE 115 f (e.g., a thermometer), the UE 115 g (e.g., smartmeter), and UE 115 h (e.g., wearable device) may communicate through thenetwork 100 either directly with BSs, such as the small cell BS 105 f,and the macro BS 105 e, or in multi-hop configurations by communicatingwith another user device which relays its information to the network,such as the UE 115 f communicating temperature measurement informationto the smart meter, the UE 115 g, which is then reported to the networkthrough the small cell BS 105 f. The network 100 may also provideadditional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDDcommunications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)

In some implementations, the network 100 utilizes OFDM-based waveformsfor communications. An OFDM-based system may partition the system BWinto multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonlyreferred to as subcarriers, tones, bins, or the like. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In some instances, the subcarrier spacingbetween adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number ofsubcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system BW. The system BW mayalso be partitioned into subbands. In other instances, the subcarrierspacing and/or the duration of TTIs may be scalable.

In an embodiment, the BSs 105 can assign or schedule transmissionresources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RB)) fordownlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions in the network 100. DLrefers to the transmission direction from a BS 105 to a UE 115, whereasUL refers to the transmission direction from a UE 115 to a BS 105. Thecommunication can be in the form of radio frames. A radio frame may bedivided into a plurality of subframes, for example, about 10. Eachsubframe can be divided into slots, for example, about 2. Each slot maybe further divided into mini-slots. In a FDD mode, simultaneous UL andDL transmissions may occur in different frequency bands. For example,each subframe includes a UL subframe in a UL frequency band and a DLsubframe in a DL frequency band. In a TDD mode, UL and DL transmissionsoccur at different time periods using the same frequency band. Forexample, a subset of the subframes (e.g., DL subframes) in a radio framemay be used for DL transmissions and another subset of the subframes(e.g., UL subframes) in the radio frame may be used for ULtransmissions.

The DL subframes and the UL subframes can be further divided intoseveral regions. For example, each DL or UL subframe may havepre-defined regions for transmissions of reference signals, controlinformation, and data. Reference signals are predetermined signals thatfacilitate the communications between the BSs 105 and the UEs 115. Forexample, a reference signal can have a particular pilot pattern orstructure, where pilot tones may span across an operational BW orfrequency band, each positioned at a pre-defined time and a pre-definedfrequency. For example, a BS 105 may transmit cell specific referencesignals (CRS s) and/or channel state information—reference signals(CSI-RSs) to enable a UE 115 to estimate a DL channel. Similarly, a UE115 may transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs) to enable a BS 105 toestimate a UL channel. Control information may include resourceassignments and protocol controls. Data may include protocol data and/oroperational data. In some embodiments, the BSs 105 and the UEs 115 maycommunicate using self-contained subframes. A self-contained subframemay include a portion for DL communication and a portion for ULcommunication. A self-contained subframe can be DL-centric orUL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a longer duration for DLcommunication than for UL communication. A UL-centric subframe mayinclude a longer duration for UL communication than for ULcommunication.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may be an NR network deployed over alicensed spectrum. The BSs 105 can transmit synchronization signals(e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondarysynchronization signal (SSS)) in the network 100 to facilitatesynchronization. The BSs 105 can broadcast system information associatedwith the network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB),remaining minimum system information (RMSI), and other systeminformation (OSI)) to facilitate initial network access. In someinstances, the BSs 105 may broadcast the PSS, the SSS, and/or the MIB inthe form of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) over a physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) and may broadcast the RMSI and/or the OSI overa physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

In an embodiment, a UE 115 attempting to access the network 100 mayperform an initial cell search by detecting a PSS from a BS 105. The PSSmay enable synchronization of period timing and may indicate a physicallayer identity value. The UE 115 may then receive a SSS. The SSS mayenable radio frame synchronization, and may provide a cell identityvalue, which may be combined with the physical layer identity value toidentify the cell. The SSS may also enable detection of a duplexing modeand a cyclic prefix length. Some systems, such as TDD systems, maytransmit an SSS but not a PSS. Both the PSS and the SSS may be locatedin a central portion of a carrier, respectively.

After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive a MIB. The MIBmay include system information for initial network access and schedulinginformation for RMSI and/or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 mayreceive RMSI and/or OSI. The RMSI and/or OSI may include radio resourceconfiguration (RRC) information related to random-access channel (RACH)procedures, paging, control resource set (CORESET) for physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical uplink control channel(PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), power control, SRS, andcell barring. After obtaining the MIB, the RMSI and/or the OSI, the UE115 can perform a random-access procedure to establish a connection withthe BS 105. After establishing a connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105can enter a normal operation stage, where operational data may beexchanged.

In some embodiments, the UEs 115 and the BSs 105 may be operated bymultiple network operators or network operating entities and may operatein a shared radio frequency spectrum, which may include licensed orunlicensed frequency bands. For example, in the network 100, the BS 105a and the UE 115 a may be associated with one network operating entity,while the BS 105 b and the UE 115 b may be associated with anothernetwork operating entity. To support coordinated access of the sharedspectrum, a BS 105 or an entity of the core network 130 may act as acentral arbitrator to manage access and coordinate the partitioning ofresources among different network operating entities operating withinthe network 100. In some embodiments, the central arbitrator may includea spectrum access system (SAS).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications network 200that supports spectrum sharing among multiple operators according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 200 correspondsto a portion of the network 100. FIG. 2 illustrates two BSs 205 and twoUEs 215 for purposes of simplicity of discussion, though it will berecognized that embodiments of the present disclosure may scale to manymore UEs 215 and/or BSs 205. The BSs 205 are similar to the BSs 105. TheUEs 215 are similar to the UEs 115. The BS 205 a and BS 205 b maycommunicate with the UEs 215 or other wireless devices within theirrespective coverage areas 240 and 245. The UEs 215 and the BS 205 maycommunicate with each other over a shared frequency band.

In the network 200, the BS 205 a may be operated by one or more networkoperating entities. For example, the BS 205 a may be operated by a firstnetwork operating entity to communicate with the UE 215 a via acommunication link 225, and the BS 205 a may be operated by a secondnetwork operating entity to communicate with the UE 215 b via acommunication link 230. Similarly, the BS 205 b may also be operated byone or more network operating entities. In some embodiments, the BS 205b is operated by a third network operating entity to communicate withthe UE 215 b via communication link 235. In this embodiment, the UE 215b may be configured to operate with both the second and third networkoperating entities.

In an embodiment, the shared frequency band can be within a 3.5 GHzCitizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum. Federal CommunicationCommission (FCC) defines a three-tier priority access model for sharingin the CBRS spectrum. The first tier with the highest priority mayinclude pre-existing incumbents, such as radars. The second tier mayinclude priority access license (PAL) users. The third tier with thelowest priority may include general authorized access (GAA). The network200 may employ a spectrum resource control unit 250 to coordinate thesharing in the CBRS spectrum. The spectrum resource control unit 250 canbe similar to a CBRS server or an SAS. The spectrum resource controlunit 250 may communicate with the BSs 205 over wireless links orbackhaul links (e.g., optical links).

In an embodiment, the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity may be PAL users and may be deployed using NRRelease 15 technology. The spectrum resource control unit 250 mayallocate two types of resources, exclusive resources and sharedresources, in the spectrum to the first network operating entity and thesecond network operating entity. The exclusive resources can be used forcommunicating critical overhead signals and channels, such as SSBs, SIs,paging, physical random-access channel (PRACH) resources, hybridautomatic request (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgements(ACK/NACKs), channel state information (CSI) reporting, and/or criticalquality-of-service (QoS) applications. The shared resources can beprioritized among the PAL users. For example, the spectrum resourcecontrol unit 250 can assign a higher access priority to the firstnetwork operating entity than to the second network operating entity fora particular shared resource. Thus, the first network operating entitymay have priority in accessing the particular shared resource, while thesecond operating entity may opportunistically access the shared resourcewhen the resource is not access by the first network operating entity.

In an embodiment, the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity may be GAA users and may be deployed using NRRelease 15 technology. Similar to the PAL users, the spectrum resourcecontrol unit 250 may allocate two types of resources, exclusive orguaranteed resources and shared resources, in the spectrum to the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity.However, the shared resources are not prioritized. The first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity access theshared resources based on listen-before-talk (LBT). In LBT, atransmitter node may perform sensing in a channel and ensure that thechannel is clear before transmitting a message.

In an embodiment, the first network operating entity may be a PAL userand the second network operating entity may be a GAA user, where bothentities may be deployed using NR Release 15 technology. The spectrumresource control unit 250 may allocate a first portion of the spectrumfor PAL users and a second portion of the spectrum for GAA users.Mechanisms for coordinating radio resources assignments and schedulingbased on NR Release 15 messages or channels are described in greaterdetail herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE 300 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 300 may be a UE 115 or aUE 215 as discussed above in FIG. 1 or 2, respectively. As shown, the UE300 may include a processor 302, a memory 304, a spectrum sharing module308, a transceiver 310 including a modem subsystem 312 and a radiofrequency (RF) unit 314, and one or more antennas 316. These elementsmay be in direct or indirect communication with each other, for examplevia one or more buses.

The processor 302 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device,another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereofconfigured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 302may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The memory 304 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 302), random-access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM),read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memorydevice, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatilememory, or a combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment,the memory 304 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 304 may store instructions 306. The instructions 306 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 302, cause theprocessor 302 to perform the operations described herein with referenceto the UEs 115 and 215 in connection with embodiments of the presentdisclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. 6-10. Instructions 306 mayalso be referred to as code. The terms “instructions” and “code” shouldbe interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readablestatement(s). For example, the terms “instructions” and “code” may referto one or more programs, routines, sub-routines, functions, procedures,etc. “Instructions” and “code” may include a single computer-readablestatement or many computer-readable statements.

The spectrum sharing module 308 may be implemented via hardware,software, or combinations thereof. For example, the spectrum sharingmodule 308 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/orinstructions 306 stored in the memory 304 and executed by the processor302. The spectrum sharing module 308 may be used for various aspects ofthe present disclosure, for example, FIGS. 6-10. For example, thespectrum sharing module 308 is configured to monitor for networkinformation (e.g., SSBs, RMSI, and/or OSI) from a BS (e.g., the BSs105), synchronize to the BS, monitor for scheduling information from theBS, and/or communicate with the BS according the scheduling information.The spectrum sharing module 308 can further monitor for a channelreservation (e.g., scheduling grants or sound reference signal (SRS)requests) from the BS, perform clear channel assessment (CCAs) bylistening for transmissions from another UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and 300),respond to the BS's channel reservations by transmitting SRSs based onthe results of the CCAs, as described in greater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 310 may include the modem subsystem 312 andthe RF unit 314. The transceiver 310 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the BSs 105. The modemsubsystem 312 may be configured to modulate and/or encode the data fromthe memory 304, and/or the spectrum sharing module 308 according to amodulation and coding scheme (MCS), e.g., a low-density parity check(LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional codingscheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 314 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from themodem subsystem 312 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissionsoriginating from another source such as a UE 115 or a BS 105. The RFunit 314 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming inconjunction with the digital beamforming. Although shown as integratedtogether in transceiver 310, the modem subsystem 312 and the RF unit 314may be separate devices that are coupled together at the UE 115 toenable the UE 115 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 314 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 316 fortransmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 316 may furtherreceive data messages transmitted from other devices. The antennas 316may provide the received data messages for processing and/ordemodulation at the transceiver 310. The antennas 316 may includemultiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustainmultiple transmission links. The RF unit 314 may configure the antennas316.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary BS 400 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The BS 400 may be a BS 105 or 205as discussed above in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, respectively. A shown, the BS400 may include a processor 402, a memory 404, a spectrum sharing module408, a transceiver 410 including a modem subsystem 412 and a RF unit414, and one or more antennas 416. These elements may be in direct orindirect communication with each other, for example via one or morebuses.

The processor 402 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The processor 402 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 404 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 402), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 404 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 404 may store instructions 406. The instructions 406 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 402, cause theprocessor 402 to perform operations described herein, for example,aspects FIGS. 6-10 and 12. Instructions 406 may also be referred to ascode, which may be interpreted broadly to include any type ofcomputer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with respect to FIG.3.

The spectrum sharing module 408 may be implemented via hardware,software, or combinations thereof. For example, the spectrum sharingmodule 408 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/orinstructions 406 stored in the memory 404 and executed by the processor402. The spectrum sharing module 408 may be used for various aspects ofthe present disclosure, aspects of FIGS. 6-10 and 12. For example, thespectrum sharing module 408 is configured to broadcast systeminformation (e.g., SSBs, RMSI, and/or OSI), perform random-accessprocedures with UEs (e.g., the UEs 115), determine schedules forcommunicating with the UEs, and/or communicate with the UEs according tothe determined schedules. The spectrum sharing module 408 can furtherreceive a configuration from a spectrum controlling entity (e.g., thespectrum resource control unit 250 or a CBRS server) indicatingexclusive resources and shared resources assigned to the BS 400,schedule and communicate timing-critical signals (e.g., SSBs, SI,paging, random-access, HARQ ACK/NACKs, CSI reports) with UEs using theexclusive resources, monitor the shared resources based on correspondingaccess priorities assigned to the BS 400, and/or schedule andcommunicate with the UEs using the shared resources, as described ingreater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 410 may include the modem subsystem 412 andthe RF unit 414. The transceiver 410 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the UEs 115 and/or anothercore network element. The modem subsystem 412 may be configured tomodulate and/or encode data according to a MCS, e.g., a LDPC codingscheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digitalbeamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 414 may be configured to process(e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to analogconversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from the modem subsystem 412(on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating from anothersource such as a UE 115 or 300. The RF unit 414 may be furtherconfigured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with the digitalbeamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 410,the modem subsystem 412 and the RF unit 414 may be separate devices thatare coupled together at the BS 105 to enable the BS 105 to communicatewith other devices.

The RF unit 414 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 416 fortransmission to one or more other devices. This may include, forexample, transmission of information to complete attachment to a networkand communication with a camped UE 115 or 300 according to embodimentsof the present disclosure. The antennas 416 may further receive datamessages transmitted from other devices and provide the received datamessages for processing and/or demodulation at the transceiver 410. Theantennas 416 may include multiple antennas of similar or differentdesigns in order to sustain multiple transmission links. While notshown, in some embodiments, the BS 400 may further include acommunication unit coupled to a network unit, such as a CBRS server or aspectrum resource control unit 250, which may configure the BS 400 forspectrum sharing.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary network unit 500according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The network unit 500may be a spectrum resource control unit 250 as discussed above in FIG.2. As shown, the network unit 500 may include a processor 502, a memory504, a spectrum sharing coordination module 508, and a transceiver 510including a modem subsystem 512 and an optical communication unit 514.These elements may be in direct or indirect communication with eachother, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 502 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The processor 502 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 504 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 502), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 504 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 504 may store instructions 506. The instructions 506 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 502, cause theprocessor 502 to perform operations described herein, for example,aspects of FIGS. 6-11. Instructions 506 may also be referred to as code,which may be interpreted broadly to include any type ofcomputer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with respect to FIG.3.

The spectrum sharing coordination module 508 may be implemented viahardware, software, or combinations thereof. For example, the spectrumsharing coordination module 508 may be implemented as a processor,circuit, and/or instructions 506 stored in the memory 504 and executedby the processor 502. The spectrum sharing coordination module 508 maybe used for various aspects of the present disclosure, for example,aspects of FIGS. 6-11. For example, the spectrum sharing coordinationmodule 508 is configured to allocate exclusive resources and sharedresources in a spectrum (e.g., the CBRS spectrum) for PAL operators,assign access priorities to the PAL operators for accessing forcorresponding shared resources, allocate exclusive resources and sharedresources in the spectrum for GAA operators, schedule and/or configureNR channel signals (e.g., SSBs, SI, paging, PRACH, HARQ ACK/NACKs,and/or CSI reporting) for using the exclusive resources, and/or scheduleand/or configure NR channel signals (e.g., DCIs, DMRS, CSI-RS s, and/orSRSs) for channel reservations in the shared resources, as described ingreater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 510 may include the modem subsystem 512 andthe optical communication unit 514. The transceiver 510 can beconfigured to communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such asthe BSs and/or another core network element. The modem subsystem 512 maybe configured to modulate and/or encode data according to a MCS, e.g., aLDPC coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional codingscheme, etc. In one embodiment, the network unit 500 may communicatewith a BS such as the BSs 105, 205, and 400 over an optical link. Insuch an embodiment, the optical communication unit 514 may includeoptical electrical-to-optical (E/O) components and/oroptical-to-electrical (O/E) components that convert an electrical signalto an optical signal for transmission to a BS and/or receive an opticalsignal from the BS and convert the optical signal into an electricalsignal, respectively. The optical communication unit 514 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, optical to electrical conversion orelectrical to optical conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from themodem subsystem 512 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissionsoriginating from another source such as a backend or core network.Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 510, the modemsubsystem 512 and the optical communication unit 514 may be separatedevices that are coupled together at the network unit 500 to enable thenetwork unit 500 to communicate with other devices. The opticalcommunication unit 514 may transmit optical signal carrying themodulated and/or processed data over an optical link. The opticalcommunication unit 514 may further receive optical signals carrying datamessages and provide the received data messages for processing and/ordemodulation at the transceiver 510. In another embodiment, the networkunit 500 may communicate with a BS over a wireless link. In such anembodiment, the optical communication unit 514 may be optional.

FIGS. 6-8 illustrate various mechanisms for coordinating spectrumsharing among PAL operators. In FIGS. 6-8, the x-axes represent time insome constant units and the y-axes represent frequency in some constantunits.

FIG. 6 illustrates a PAL spectrum sharing scheme 600 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 600 may be employed bythe networks 100 and 200 for spectrum sharing among PAL users or networkoperating entities. In particular, a spectrum resource control unit suchas the spectrum resource control unit 250 and the network unit 500 mayconfigure exclusive resources and prioritized shared access resourcesfor BSs such as the BSs 105, 205, and 400 of PAL operators tocommunicate with corresponding UEs such as the UEs 115, 215, and 300using the scheme 600. While the scheme 600 illustrates coordinatedspectrum access for three different PAL users or network operatingentities (e.g., Operator A, Operator B, and Operator C), the scheme 600can be applied to any suitable number of network operating entities.

In the scheme 600, the spectrum 601 is time-partitioned into frames 602.The spectrum 601 may be located at any suitable frequencies for sharedwireless access by multiple network operating entities. In someexamples, the spectrum 601 may be a licensed spectrum. In some examples,the spectrum 601 may be an unlicensed spectrum. In some examples, thespectrum 601 may be located in a 3.5 GHz CBRS band. Each frame 602 ispartitioned into exclusive access periods 604 (shown as 604 a, 604 b,and 604 c) and transmit opportunities (TXOPs) 606 (shown as 606 a, 606b, and 606 c). Each TXOP 606 includes a plurality of CCA periods 608(shown as 608 a, 608 b, and 608 c) at the beginning of the TXOP 606,followed by a transmission period 610 (shown as 610 a, 610 b, and 610c). The exclusive access periods 604, the CCA periods 608, and thetransmission period 610 may have fixed duration. For example, eachexclusive access period 604 may include one or more slots or subframes,each CCA period slot 608 may include one or more OFDM symbols, and eachtransmission period 610 may include one or more slots or subframes. Thespectrum resource control unit can indicate the structure of the frame602 to all network operating entities sharing the spectrum. The networkoperating entities may be time-synchronized when operating in thespectrum.

The spectrum resource control unit may assign each exclusive accessperiod 604 to a particular network operating entity for exclusive use.For example, the exclusive access period 604 a is designated forexclusive communication 621 by Operator A. Operators B and C are notallowed to transmit during the exclusive access period 604 a. Similarly,the exclusive access period 604 b is designated for exclusivecommunication 631 by Operator B, and the exclusive access period 604 cis designated for exclusive communication 641 by Operator C.

An operator may use resources in the exclusive time access 604 assignedto the operator for communicating time-critical overhead signals and/ortime-critical channel signals. For example, the exclusive communications621, 631, and 641 can include network information signals (e.g.,synchronization signals, SSBs, MIBs, RMSI, and/or OSI), feedback signals(e.g., HARQ ACK/NACKs, and/or CSI reports), paging, and/or PRACH signalsof corresponding operators. The exclusive communications 621, 631, and641 may also be used to provide QoS critical services such asultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). In an embodiment, thenetwork information signals, feedback signals, paging, PRACH signals,URLLC signals can be as defined in the NR Release 15. The spectrumresource control unit can configure a BS to schedule the networkinformation signals, feedback signals, paging, PRACH signals, URLLCsignals in an exclusive access period 604 assigned to the BS.

The spectrum resource control unit can configure the TXOPs 606 forpriority-based shared access. For example, the spectrum resource controlunit may assign each operator with a priority for accessing each TXOP606. Each CCA period 608 in a TXOP 606 are arranged in a decreasingpriority order. A CCA period 608 may correspond to a slot or amini-slot. The number of CAA periods 608 in a TXOP 606 may be dependenton the number of network operating entities sharing the spectrum 601.For example, a network with N network operators may include up to N CCAperiods 608 in a TXOP 606. Each TXOP 606 is prioritized for use by ahighest priority network operating entity and may be utilized by lowerpriority network operating entities on an opportunistic basis if theprioritized network operating entity does not utilize the resources.

In some embodiments, the spectrum resource control unit may rotate thepriorities of the network operating entities (e.g., in a round-robinfashion) among the TXOPs 606 within a frame 602. In some embodiments,the spectrum resource control unit may assign the priorities based ontraffic loading and/or requirements of the operators and/or any otherpre-agreements with the operators.

As an example, the transmission period 610 a is designated forprioritized communication 622 by Operator A and opportunisticcommunications 633 a and 643 a by Operators B and C, respectively. Thetransmission period 610 b is designated for prioritized communication632 by Operator B and opportunistic communications 623 b and 643 b byOperators A and C, respectively. The transmission period 610 c isdesignated for prioritized communication 642 by Operator C andopportunistic communications 623 c and 633 c by Operators A and B,respectively. The communications 622 and 623 can include UL controlinformation, UL reference signals, UL data, DL control information, DLreference signals, and/or DL data. While the scheme 600 is described inthe context of a spectrum resource control unit coordinating sharing ofresource in the spectrum 601 in a time domain, in some embodiments, thespectrum resource control unit can additionally coordinate sharing ofthe resources in a frequency domain.

FIG. 7 illustrates a PAL spectrum sharing scheme 700 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 700 may be employed bythe networks 100 and 200. The scheme 700 is similar to the scheme 600.The scheme 700 provides a more detailed view of interactions betweenoperators using the priority-based shared access described in the scheme600, and may use the same reference numerals as in FIG. 6 for simplicitysake. FIG. 7 illustrates prioritized shared access between two PALoperators (e.g., Operator A and Operator B), each with one BS servingone UE for simplicity of discussion, though it will be recognized thatembodiments of the present disclosure may scale to many more PALoperators 210, each with any suitable number of serving BS s and UEs.For example, Operator A may operate a BS 205 a and a UE 215 a.Similarly, Operator B may operate a BS 205 b and a UE 215 b. In FIG. 7,the patterned boxes represent transmit (Tx) signals and the empty boxesrepresent receive (Rx) signals. The dashed boxes are included to showthe transmission and/or reception with reference to a structure 705 ofthe TXOP 606 (e.g., without signal transmission or reception).

As an example, Operator A has priority over Operator B in the TXOP 606a. The BS 205 a may use priority access in the TXOP 606 a. The BS 205 atransmits a reservation signal 720 in the CCA period 608 a of the TXOP606 a to reserve the TXOP 606 a for communications. The reservationsignal 720 can be a PDCCH signal including downlink control information(DCI), DMRS, and/or CSI-RS. The DCI may include a scheduling grant forthe UE 215 a. The UE may respond by transmitting a reservation responsesignal 722. The reservation response signal 722 can be an SRS.Subsequently, the BS 205 a may communicate a communication signal 724with the UE 215 a during the transmission period 610 a. The schedulinggrant can be a DL grant or a UL grant. When the scheduling grant is a DLgrant, the communication signal 724 may carry DL data. Conversely, whenthe scheduling grant is a UL grant, the communication signal 724 maycarry UL data.

Since Operator B has a lower priority than Operator A in the TXOP 606 a,the BS 205 b may monitor the channel (e.g., the spectrum 601) for areservation signal 720 or a reservation response signal 722 fromOperator A during the CCA period 608 a assigned to Operator A. The BS205 b may perform the monitoring using energy detection or detection fora particular signal signature (e.g., waveform). In some embodiments, theBS 205 b can perform the monitoring based on an LBT threshold such thatthe BS 205 b may not create a dominant interference to Operator A. Upondetecting a reservation signal 720 and/or a reservation response signal722 from Operator A, the BS 205 b may refrain from transmitting in thetransmission period 610 a. However, when no reservation signal 720 or areservation response signal 722 is detected from Operator A, the BS 205b may opportunistically transmit a reservation signal 730 in the CCAperiod 608 b to reserve the following transmission period 610 a. Thereservation signal 730 may can be a PDCCH signal including downlinkcontrol information (DCI), DMRS, and/or CSI-RS. The DCI may include a DLgrant for the UE 215 b. Subsequently, the BS 205 b may communicate a DLcommunication signal 734 with the UE 215 b. In an embodiment, the PDCCHsignal, DCI, DMRS, and CSI-RS are signals as defined in NR Release 15.

As can be seen, a low-priority operator does not have guarantee accessto a TXOP 606. Thus, to guarantee no interference to a high-priorityoperator, an operator may delay HARQ and/or CSI feedbacks. In NR, aparameter K is defined for the delay between a data reception and thetransmission of a HARQ ACK/NACK corresponding to the data reception.Thus, a BS may adjust the value for the parameter K such that HARQACK/NACKs can be transmitted using resources with guaranteed access orexclusive access.

In an embodiment, the duration 702 of a CCA period 608 may span one slotor one mini-slot. Thus, when a TXOP 606 includes n slots or nmini-slots, the overhead for a non-primary operator may be about 1/(n−1)slots or 1/(n−1) mini-slots. While the scheme 700 illustrates the BS 205a scheduling the UE 215 a for communication over the entire transmissionperiod 610 or the BS 205 b scheduling the UE 215 b for communicationover the entire transmission period 610, in some embodiments, thetransmission period 610 may include multiple subframes or slots and a BSmay schedule different UEs in different subframes or slots within thetransmission period 610.

FIG. 8 illustrates a PAL spectrum sharing scheme 800 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 800 may be employed bythe networks 100 and 200. The scheme 800 is described using the framestructure and priority access mechanisms as in the scheme 600. Thescheme 800 is substantially similar to the scheme 700, but illustratesan opportunistic access of a shared access resource for ULcommunication. The scheme 800 may use the same reference numerals as inFIGS. 6 and 7 for simplicity sake. In the scheme 800, a scheduled UE(e.g., the UEs 115, 215, and 300) or an active UE that have data forexchange may also be required to monitor transmissions from otheroperators in addition to BSs.

For example, similar to the scheme 700, the BS 205 b may monitor thechannel (e.g., the spectrum 601) for a reservation signal 720 and/or areservation response signal 722 from Operator A during the CCA period608 a assigned to Operator A. When no reservation signal 720 or noreservation response signal 722 is detected from Operator A, the BS 205b may opportunistically transmit a reservation signal 730 in the CCAperiod 608 b to reserve the following transmission period 610. Thereservation signal 730 may include a DL grant for the UE 215 b. The BS205 b may communicate a DL communication signal 734 with the UE 215 bbased on the DL grant.

The reservation signal 730 may also include an SRS request for the UE215 b. The BS 205 b may determine whether to schedule the UE 215 b for aUL communication based on whether an SRS response is received from theUE 215 b. For example, the UE 215 b may also listen to the channel for atransmission from another UE. In some embodiments, the UE 215 b canperform the monitoring based on an LBT threshold to avoid creating adominant interference to Operator A. When a transmission is detectedfrom another UE, the UE 215 b may not respond to the SRS request.However, when no transmission is detected from another UE, the UE 215 bmay respond to the SRS request by transmitting an SRS 832. In anembodiment, the SRS 832 is as defined in NR Release 15. Upon receivingthe SRS 832, the BS 205 b may schedule the UE 215 b for a ULcommunication. For example, the BS 205 b may transmit a DCI signal 830including a UL grant for the UE 215 b in a second slot (e.g., theduration 702) within the TXOP 606 a. Subsequently, the UE 215 b maytransmit a UL communication signal 834 to the BS 205 b based on the ULgrant.

As can be seen from the schemes 600, 700, and 800, a spectrum resourcecontrol unit can coordinate spectrum sharing among PAL operatorsoperating based on NR Release 15 channel signals and/or messages withoutintroducing new messages or new channel signals. As shown in the scheme700, network listening or channel monitoring from BSs can facilitatereliable spectrum sharing for DL traffic. As shown in the scheme 800,the addition of UE listening can facilitate reliable spectrum sharingfor UL traffic in addition to DL traffic. In some embodiments, the UEmonitoring can facilitate vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and/or dynamic TDDoperations in addition to spectrum sharing.

FIG. 9 illustrates a GAA spectrum sharing scheme 900 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 900 may be employed bythe networks 100 and 200 for spectrum sharing among GAA users or networkoperating entities. In particular, a spectrum resource control unit suchas the spectrum resource control unit 250 and the network unit 500 mayconfigure exclusive resources and contention-based shared accessresources for BSs such as the BSs 105, 205, and 400 of GAA operators tocommunicate with corresponding UEs such as the UEs 115, 215, and 300using the scheme 900. While the scheme 900 illustrates coordinatedspectrum access for three different GAA users or network operatingentities (e.g., Operator A, Operator B, and Operator C), the scheme 900can be applied to any suitable number of network operating entities.

Similar to the scheme 600, the spectrum resource control unit mayallocate certain time periods 904 (shown as 904 a, 904 b, and 904 c)when a network operator may have exclusive access to a spectrum 901(e.g., the spectrum 601). For example, the exclusive access period 904 ais designated for exclusive communication 910 by Operator A. Operators Band C are not allowed to transmit during the exclusive access period 904a. Similarly, the exclusive access period 904 b is designated forexclusive communication 920 by Operator B, and the exclusive accessperiod 904 c is designated for exclusive communication 930 by OperatorC. The exclusive communications 910, 920, and 930 can include networkinformation signals (e.g., synchronization signals, SSBs, MIBs, RMSI,and/or OSI), feedback signals (e.g., HARQ ACK/NACKs, and/or CSIreports), paging, and/or PRACH signals of corresponding operators.

The spectrum resource control unit may configure periods (e.g., a TXOP902) outside the exclusive access periods 904 for contention-basedshared access by the operators. For example, a BS of an operator mayperform an LBT in the spectrum 901. When the LBT passes, the BS may gainaccess to a TXOP 902 in the spectrum 901. The BS may schedule a UE for aUL communication or a DL communication. For example, Operator A may gainaccess to the TXOPs 902 ₍₁₎, 902 ₍₄₎, and 902 ₍₅₎. Thus, Operator Anodes may communicate communication signals 912 in the TXOPs 902 ₍₁₎,902 ₍₄₎, and 902 ₍₅₎. Operator B may gain access to the TXOPs 902 ₍₂₎and 902 ₍₇₎. Thus, Operator B nodes may communicate communicationsignals 922 in the TXOPs 902 ₍₂₎ and 902 ₍₇₎. Operator CB may gainaccess to the TXOPs 902 ₍₃₎ and 902 ₍₆₎. Thus, Operator C nodes maycommunicate communication signals 932 in the TXOPs 902 ₍₃₎ and 902 ₍₆₎.The communication signals 912, 922, and 923 can be UL and/or DLcommunication signals of corresponding operators. The communicationsignals 912, 922, and 923 can include UL control information, UL data,DL control information, and/or DL data.

In some embodiments, nodes from different operators may create someresidual interference to each other after executing LBT procedures. Tominimize potential residual interference, the spectrum resource controlunit can assign orthogonal resources to nearby nodes. While the scheme900 is described in the context of a spectrum resource control unitcoordinating sharing of resource in the spectrum 901 in a time domain,in some embodiments, the spectrum resource control unit can additionallycoordinate sharing of the resources in a frequency domain.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a spectrum sharing scheme 1000 forsharing between PAL users and GAA users according to some embodiments ofthe present disclosure. The scheme 1000 may be employed by the networks100 and 200 for spectrum sharing among PAL users and GAA users ornetwork operating entities. In particular, a spectrum resource controlunit such as the spectrum resource control unit 250 and the network unit500 can use the scheme 600 in conjunction with the scheme 900 tocoordinate resources for spectrum sharing. The scheme 1000 may use thesame reference numerals as in FIGS. 6 and 9 for simplicity sake.

For example, the spectrum resource control unit can configure resourcesin a portion 1002 of a spectrum 1001 (e.g., the spectrums 601 and/or901) for PAL operators and configured resources in another portion 1004of the spectrum 1001 for GAA operators. The spectrum resource controlunit can use the scheme 600 to configure the portion 1002 and use thescheme 900 to configure the portion 1004.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a spectrum sharing coordination method 1100according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method1100 can be executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor,processing circuit, and/or other suitable component) or other suitablemeans for performing the steps. For example, a spectrum resource controlunit, such as the spectrum resource control unit 250 or the network unit500, may utilize one or more components, such as the processor 502, thememory 504, the spectrum sharing coordination module 508, and thetransceiver 510, to execute the steps of method 1100. The method 1100may employ similar mechanisms as in the schemes 600, 700, 800, 900, and1000 described above with respect to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10,respectively. As illustrated, the method 1100 includes a number ofenumerated steps, but embodiments of the method 1100 may includeadditional steps before, after, and in between the enumerated steps. Insome embodiments, one or more of the enumerated steps may be omitted orperformed in a different order.

At step 1110, the method 1100 includes allocating a first resource(e.g., the exclusive access periods 604 and/or 904) in a spectrum (e.g.,the spectrums 601, 901, and/or 1001) for exclusive access by a firstnetwork operating entity (e.g., Operator A). The spectrum is shared bythe first network operating entity and a second network operating entity(e.g., Operator B). The exclusive access is configured for at least oneof a network information communication or a feedback communication.

At step 1120, the method 1100 includes allocating a second resource(e.g., the TXOPs 606 and 902) in the spectrum for shared access by thefirst network operating entity and the second network operating entity.The shared access is configured for at least a downlink controlinformation communication.

At step 1130, the method 1100 includes transmitting, to the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity, aconfiguration indicating that the first resource is allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource is allocated for shared access by the first network operatingentity and the second network operating entity.

In an embodiment, the network information communication includes atleast one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) communication by thefirst network operating entity or system information (SI) communicationby the first network operating entity. In an embodiment, the feedbackcommunication is associated with at least one of a hybrid automaticrepeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement(ACK/NACK) communication by the first network operating entity or achannel state information (CSI) report communication by the firstnetwork operating entity. In an embodiment, the exclusive access isfurther configured for at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC) by the first network operating entity, a pagingcommunication by the first network operating entity, or a random-accessprocedure communication by the first network operating entity.

In an embodiment, the downlink control information communication isconfigured for includes at least one of a scheduling grant communicationby the first network operating entity, a demodulation reference signal(DMRS) communication by the first network operating entity, or a channelstate information-reference signal (CSI-RS) communication by the firstnetwork operating entity.

In an embodiment, the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity are priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entities of the spectrum. In such an embodiment, the spectrumresource control unit may assign a first access priority to the firstnetwork operating entity for the shared access of the second resourceand may assign a second access priority to the second network operatingentity for the shared access of the second resource, the second accesspriority being higher than the first access priority. In an embodiment,the first resource and the second resource are in a first portion of thespectrum. The spectrum resources control unit can further allocate athird resource in a second portion of the spectrum for shared access bya plurality of general authorized access (GAA) network operatingentities, where the second portion is different from the first portion.The spectrum resource control unit can further allocate a fourthresource in the second portion of the spectrum for exclusive access byone of the plurality of GAA network operating entities.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a spectrum sharing method 1200 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1200 can beexecuted by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuit,and/or other suitable component) or other suitable means for performingthe steps. For example, a wireless communication device, such as BS 105,BS 205, or BS 400, may utilize one or more components, such as theprocessor 402, the memory 404, the spectrum sharing module 408, thetransceiver 410, and the one or more antennas 416, to execute the stepsof method 1200. The method 1200 may employ similar mechanisms as in theschemes 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 described above with respect toFIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively. As illustrated, the method 1200includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments of the method1200 may include additional steps before, after, and in between theenumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of the enumeratedsteps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1210, the method 1200 includes receiving, by a first wirelesscommunication device (e.g., a BS), a configuration indicating a firstresource (e.g., the exclusive access periods 604 and/or 904) and asecond resource (e.g., the TXOPs 606 and 902) in a spectrum (e.g., thespectrums 601, 901, and/or 1001) shared by a first network operatingentity (e.g., Operator A) and a second network operating entity (e.g.,Operator B). The first resource is allocated for exclusive access by thefirst network operating entity and the second resource allocated forshared access by the second network operating entity. The first wirelesscommunication device is associated with the first network operatingentity.

At step 1220, the method 1200 includes communicating, by the firstwireless communication device with a second wireless communicationdevice (e.g., a UE), at least one of a network information or a feedbackusing the first resource.

At step 1230, the method 1200 includes transmitting, by the firstwireless communication device, a downlink control information (e.g.,channel reservation signals 720 and 730) to reserve the second resource.

In an embodiment, the network information communication includes atleast one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) communication by thefirst network operating entity or system information (SI) communicationby the first network operating entity. In an embodiment, the feedbackcommunication is associated with at least one of a hybrid automaticrepeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement(ACK/NACK) communication by the first network operating entity or achannel state information (CSI) report communication by the firstnetwork operating entity. In an embodiment, the exclusive access isfurther configured for at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC) by the first network operating entity, a pagingcommunication by the first network operating entity, or a random-accessprocedure communication by the first network operating entity.

In an embodiment, the downlink control information communication isconfigured for includes at least one of a scheduling grant communicationby the first network operating entity, a demodulation reference signal(DMRS) communication by the first network operating entity, or a channelstate information-reference signal (CSI-RS) communication by the firstnetwork operating entity.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device cancommunicate with the second wireless communication device, at least oneof an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), a pagingcommunication, or a random-access procedure communication using thefirst resource.

In an embodiment, the first network operating entity is a priorityaccess license (PAL) network operating entity of the spectrum, andwherein the second resource is a priority-based shared resource. In suchan embodiment, the configuration may further indicate that the networkoperating entity has a higher priority than the second network operatingentity for accessing the second resource, and wherein the downlinkcontrol information is transmitted based on the first network operatingentity having the higher priority.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as usedin a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrasesuch as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusivelist such that, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C]means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a method ofwireless communication, comprising allocating, by a spectrum resourcecontrol unit, a first resource for exclusive access by a first networkoperating entity in a spectrum shared by the first network operatingentity and a second network operating entity, the exclusive accessconfigured for at least one of a network information communication or afeedback communication; allocating, by the spectrum resource controlunit, a second resource in the spectrum for shared access by the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity, theshared access configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and transmitting, by the spectrum resource control unitto the first network operating entity and the second network operatingentity, a configuration indicating that the first resource is allocatedfor exclusive access by the first network operating entity and thesecond resource is allocated for shared access by the first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information communicationincludes at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB)communication by the first network operating entity or systeminformation (SI) communication by the first network operating entity. Insome embodiments, wherein the feedback communication is associated withat least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the exclusive access is further configured for atleast one of an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) by thefirst network operating entity, a paging communication by the firstnetwork operating entity, or a random-access procedure communication bythe first network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thedownlink control information communication includes at least one of ascheduling grant communication by the first network operating entity, ademodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the first networkoperating entity, or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity are priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entities of the spectrum, and wherein the method furthercomprises assigning, by the spectrum resource control unit, a firstaccess priority to the first network operating entity for the sharedaccess of the second resource; and assigning, by the spectrum resourcecontrol unit, a second access priority to the second network operatingentity for the shared access of the second resource, the second accesspriority being higher than the first access priority. In someembodiments, wherein the first network operating entity is a priorityaccess license (PAL) network operating entity of the spectrum, whereinthe first resource and the second resource are in a first portion of thespectrum, and wherein the method further comprises allocating, by thespectrum resource control unit, a third resource in a second portion ofthe spectrum for shared access by a plurality of general authorizedaccess (GAA) network operating entities, the second portion beingdifferent from the first portion; and allocating, by the spectrumresource control unit, a fourth resource in the second portion of thespectrum for exclusive access by one of the plurality of GAA networkoperating entities.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a method ofwireless communication, comprising receiving, by a first wirelesscommunication device, a configuration indicating a first resource and asecond resource in a spectrum shared by a first network operating entityand a second network operating entity, the first resource allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource allocated for shared access by the second network operatingentity, the first wireless communication device associated with thefirst network operating entity; communicating, by the first wirelesscommunication device with a second wireless communication device, atleast one of network information or a feedback using the first resource;and transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, downlinkcontrol information to reserve the second resource.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information includes at leastone of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with the firstnetwork operating entity or system information (SI) associated with thefirst network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thefeedback is associated with at least one of a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) or achannel state information (CSI) report. In some embodiments, the methodfurther comprises communicating, by the first wireless communicationdevice with the second wireless communication device, at least one of anultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), a pagingcommunication, or a random-access procedure communication using thefirst resource. In some embodiments, wherein the downlink controlinformation includes at least one of a scheduling grant for the secondwireless communication device, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS),or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). In someembodiments, wherein the first network operating entity is a priorityaccess license (PAL) network operating entity of the spectrum, andwherein the second resource is a priority-based shared resource. In someembodiments, wherein the spectrum includes a first portion for sharingamong PAL network operating entities and a second portion for sharingamong general authorized access (GAA) network operating entities, andwherein the first resource and the second resource are within the firstportion. In some embodiments, wherein the configuration furtherindicates that the network operating entity has a higher priority thanthe second network operating entity for accessing the second resource,and wherein the downlink control information is transmitted based on thefirst network operating entity having the higher priority. In someembodiments, wherein the second resource includes a time periodincluding a plurality of priority-based reservation periods, wherein thefirst network operating entity has a lower priority than the secondnetwork operating entity in the time period, wherein the method furtherincludes monitoring, by the first wireless communication device, for areservation from the second network operating entity during areservation period of the plurality of priority-based reservationperiods corresponding to a priority of the second network operatingentity, and wherein the downlink control information is transmittedbased on the monitoring. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises monitoring, by the first wireless communication device, for asounding reference signal (SRS) from the second wireless communicationdevice in the second resource; and transmitting, by the first wirelesscommunication device, another downlink control information including anuplink scheduling grant for the second wireless communication devicebased on the monitoring. In some embodiments, wherein the first networkoperating entity is a general authorized access (GAA) user of thespectrum. In some embodiments, the method further comprises performing,by the first wireless communication device, a listen-before-talk (LBT)in a time period within the second resource, wherein the downlinkcontrol information is transmitted based on the LBT. In someembodiments, wherein the spectrum includes a first portion for sharingamong priority access license (PAL) network operating entities and asecond portion for sharing among general authorized access (GAA) networkoperating entities, and wherein the first resource and the secondresource are within the second portion.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatuscomprising a processor configured to allocate a first resource forexclusive access by a first network operating entity in a spectrumshared by the first network operating entity and a second networkoperating entity, the exclusive access configured for at least one of anetwork information communication or a feedback communication; andallocate a second resource in the spectrum for shared access by thefirst network operating entity and the second network operating entity,the shared access configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and a transceiver configured to transmit, to the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity, aconfiguration indicating that the first resource is allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource is allocated for shared access by the first network operatingentity and the second network operating entity.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information communicationincludes at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB)communication by the first network operating entity or systeminformation (SI) communication by the first network operating entity. Insome embodiments, wherein the feedback communication is associated withat least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the exclusive access is further configured for atleast one of an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) by thefirst network operating entity, a paging communication by the firstnetwork operating entity, or a random-access procedure communication bythe first network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thedownlink control information communication includes at least one of ascheduling grant communication by the first network operating entity, ademodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the first networkoperating entity, or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity are priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entities of the spectrum, and wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to assign a first access priority to the first networkoperating entity for the shared access of the second resource; andassign a second access priority to the second network operating entityfor the shared access of the second resource, the second access prioritybeing higher than the first access priority. In some embodiments,wherein the first network operating entity is a priority access license(PAL) network operating entity of the spectrum, wherein the firstresource and the second resource are in a first portion of the spectrum,and wherein the processor is further configured to allocate a thirdresource in a second portion of the spectrum for shared access by aplurality of general authorized access (GAA) network operating entities,the second portion being different from the first portion; and allocatea fourth resource in the second portion of the spectrum for exclusiveaccess by one of the plurality of GAA network operating entities.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatuscomprising a transceiver configured to receive a configurationindicating a first resource and a second resource in a spectrum sharedby a first network operating entity and a second network operatingentity, the first resource allocated for exclusive access by the firstnetwork operating entity and the second resource allocated for sharedaccess by the second network operating entity, the apparatus associatedwith the first network operating entity; communicate, with a wirelesscommunication device, at least one of network information or a feedbackusing the first resource; and transmit downlink control information toreserve the second resource.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information includes at leastone of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with the firstnetwork operating entity or system information (SI) associated with thefirst network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thefeedback is associated with at least one of a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) or achannel state information (CSI) report. In some embodiments, wherein thetransceiver is further configured to communicate, with the wirelesscommunication device, at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC), a paging communication, or a random-accessprocedure communication using the first resource. In some embodiments,wherein the downlink control information includes at least one of ascheduling grant for the wireless communication device, a demodulationreference signal (DMRS), or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS). In some embodiments, wherein the first network operatingentity is a priority access license (PAL) network operating entity ofthe spectrum, and wherein the second resource is a priority-based sharedresource. In some embodiments, wherein the spectrum includes a firstportion for sharing among PAL network operating entities and a secondportion for sharing among general authorized access (GAA) networkoperating entities, and wherein the first resource and the secondresource are within the first portion. In some embodiments, wherein theconfiguration further indicates that the network operating entity has ahigher priority than the second network operating entity for accessingthe second resource, and wherein the downlink control information istransmitted based on the first network operating entity having thehigher priority. In some embodiments, wherein the second resourceincludes a time period including a plurality of priority-basedreservation periods, wherein the first network operating entity has alower priority than the second network operating entity in the timeperiod, wherein the apparatus further comprises a processor configuredto monitor for a reservation from the second network operating entityduring a reservation period of the plurality of priority-basedreservation periods corresponding to a priority of the second networkoperating entity, and wherein the downlink control information istransmitted based on the monitoring. In some embodiments, wherein theprocessor is further configured to monitor for a sounding referencesignal (SRS) from the wireless communication device in the secondresource, and wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmitanother downlink control information including an uplink schedulinggrant for the wireless communication device based on the monitoring. Insome embodiments, wherein the first network operating entity is ageneral authorized access (GAA) user of the spectrum. In someembodiments, the apparatus further comprises a processor configured toperform a listen-before-talk (LBT) in a time period within the secondresource, wherein the downlink control information is transmitted basedon the LBT. In some embodiments, wherein the spectrum includes a firstportion for sharing among priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entities and a second portion for sharing among generalauthorized access (GAA) network operating entities, and wherein thefirst resource and the second resource are within the second portion.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include acomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code comprising code for causing a spectrum resource controlunit to allocate a first resource for exclusive access by a firstnetwork operating entity in a spectrum shared by the first networkoperating entity and a second network operating entity, the exclusiveaccess configured for at least one of a network informationcommunication or a feedback communication; code for causing the spectrumresource control unit to allocate a second resource in the spectrum forshared access by the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity, the shared access configured for at least adownlink control information communication; and code for causing thespectrum resource control unit to transmitting, by the spectrum resourcecontrol unit to the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity, a configuration indicating that the firstresource is allocated for exclusive access by the first networkoperating entity and the second resource is allocated for shared accessby the first network operating entity and the second network operatingentity.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information communicationincludes at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB)communication by the first network operating entity or systeminformation (SI) communication by the first network operating entity. Insome embodiments, wherein the feedback communication is associated withat least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the exclusive access is further configured for atleast one of an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) by thefirst network operating entity, a paging communication by the firstnetwork operating entity, or a random-access procedure communication bythe first network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thedownlink control information communication includes at least one of ascheduling grant communication by the first network operating entity, ademodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the first networkoperating entity, or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity are priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entities of the spectrum, and wherein the computer-readablemedium further comprises code for causing the spectrum resource controlunit to assign a first access priority to the first network operatingentity for the shared access of the second resource; and code forcausing the spectrum resource control unit to assign a second accesspriority to the second network operating entity for the shared access ofthe second resource, the second access priority being higher than thefirst access priority. In some embodiments, wherein the first networkoperating entity is a priority access license (PAL) network operatingentity of the spectrum, wherein the first resource and the secondresource are in a first portion of the spectrum, and wherein thecomputer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the spectrumresource control unit to allocate a third resource in a second portionof the spectrum for shared access by a plurality of general authorizedaccess (GAA) network operating entities, the second portion beingdifferent from the first portion; and code for causing the spectrumresource control unit to allocate a fourth resource in the secondportion of the spectrum for exclusive access by one of the plurality ofGAA network operating entities.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include acomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code comprising code for causing a first wireless communicationdevice to receive a configuration indicating a first resource and asecond resource in a spectrum shared by a first network operating entityand a second network operating entity, the first resource allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource allocated for shared access by the second network operatingentity, the first wireless communication device associated with thefirst network operating entity; code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to communicate, with a second wirelesscommunication device, at least one of network information or a feedbackusing the first resource; and code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to transmit downlink control information to reservethe second resource.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information includes at leastone of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with the firstnetwork operating entity or system information (SI) associated with thefirst network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thefeedback is associated with at least one of a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) or achannel state information (CSI) report. In some embodiments, thecomputer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the firstwireless communication device to communicate, with the second wirelesscommunication device, at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC), a paging communication, or a random-accessprocedure communication using the first resource. In some embodiments,wherein the downlink control information includes at least one of ascheduling grant for the second wireless communication device, ademodulation reference signal (DMRS), or a channel stateinformation-reference signal (CSI-RS). In some embodiments, wherein thefirst network operating entity is a priority access license (PAL)network operating entity of the spectrum, and wherein the secondresource is a priority-based shared resource. In some embodiments,wherein the spectrum includes a first portion for sharing among PALnetwork operating entities and a second portion for sharing amonggeneral authorized access (GAA) network operating entities, and whereinthe first resource and the second resource are within the first portion.In some embodiments, wherein the configuration further indicates thatthe network operating entity has a higher priority than the secondnetwork operating entity for accessing the second resource, and whereinthe downlink control information is transmitted based on the firstnetwork operating entity having the higher priority. In someembodiments, wherein the second resource includes a time periodincluding a plurality of priority-based reservation periods, wherein thefirst network operating entity has a lower priority than the secondnetwork operating entity in the time period, wherein thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the firstwireless communication device to monitor for a reservation from thesecond network operating entity during a reservation period of theplurality of priority-based reservation periods corresponding to apriority of the second network operating entity, and wherein thedownlink control information is transmitted based on the monitoring. Insome embodiments, the computer-readable medium further comprises codefor causing the first wireless communication device to monitor for asounding reference signal (SRS) from the second wireless communicationdevice in the second resource; and code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to transmit another downlink control informationincluding an uplink scheduling grant for the second wirelesscommunication device based on the monitoring. In some embodiments,wherein the first network operating entity is a general authorizedaccess (GAA) user of the spectrum. In some embodiments, thecomputer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the firstwireless communication device to perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) in atime period within the second resource, wherein the downlink controlinformation is transmitted based on the LBT. In some embodiments,wherein the spectrum includes a first portion for sharing among priorityaccess license (PAL) network operating entities and a second portion forsharing among general authorized access (GAA) network operatingentities, and wherein the first resource and the second resource arewithin the second portion.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatuscomprising means for allocating a first resource for exclusive access bya first network operating entity in a spectrum shared by the firstnetwork operating entity and a second network operating entity, theexclusive access configured for at least one of a network informationcommunication or a feedback communication; means for allocating a secondresource in the spectrum for shared access by the first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity, the sharedaccess configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and means for transmitting, to the first networkoperating entity and the second network operating entity, aconfiguration indicating that the first resource is allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource is allocated for shared access by the first network operatingentity and the second network operating entity.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information communicationincludes at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB)communication by the first network operating entity or systeminformation (SI) communication by the first network operating entity. Insome embodiments, wherein the feedback communication is associated withat least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the exclusive access is further configured for atleast one of an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) by thefirst network operating entity, a paging communication by the firstnetwork operating entity, or a random-access procedure communication bythe first network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thedownlink control information communication includes at least one of ascheduling grant communication by the first network operating entity, ademodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the first networkoperating entity, or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity. In someembodiments, wherein the first network operating entity and the secondnetwork operating entity are priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entities of the spectrum, and wherein the apparatus furthercomprises means for assigning a first access priority to the firstnetwork operating entity for the shared access of the second resource;and means for assigning a second access priority to the second networkoperating entity for the shared access of the second resource, thesecond access priority being higher than the first access priority. Insome embodiments, wherein the first network operating entity is apriority access license (PAL) network operating entity of the spectrum,wherein the first resource and the second resource are in a firstportion of the spectrum, and wherein the apparatus further comprisesmeans for allocating a third resource in a second portion of thespectrum for shared access by a plurality of general authorized access(GAA) network operating entities, the second portion being differentfrom the first portion; and means for allocating a fourth resource inthe second portion of the spectrum for exclusive access by one of theplurality of GAA network operating entities.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatuscomprising means for receiving a configuration indicating a firstresource and a second resource in a spectrum shared by a first networkoperating entity and a second network operating entity, the firstresource allocated for exclusive access by the first network operatingentity and the second resource allocated for shared access by the secondnetwork operating entity, the apparatus associated with the firstnetwork operating entity; means for communicating, with a wirelesscommunication device, at least one of network information or a feedbackusing the first resource; and means for transmitting downlink controlinformation to reserve the second resource.

In some embodiments, wherein the network information includes at leastone of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with the firstnetwork operating entity or system information (SI) associated with thefirst network operating entity. In some embodiments, wherein thefeedback is associated with at least one of a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) or achannel state information (CSI) report. In some embodiments, theapparatus further comprises means for communicating, with the wirelesscommunication device, at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC), a paging communication, or a random-accessprocedure communication using the first resource. In some embodiments,wherein the downlink control information includes at least one of ascheduling grant for the wireless communication device, a demodulationreference signal (DMRS), or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS). In some embodiments, wherein the first network operatingentity is a priority access license (PAL) network operating entity ofthe spectrum, and wherein the second resource is a priority-based sharedresource. In some embodiments, wherein the spectrum includes a firstportion for sharing among PAL network operating entities and a secondportion for sharing among general authorized access (GAA) networkoperating entities, and wherein the first resource and the secondresource are within the first portion. In some embodiments, wherein theconfiguration further indicates that the network operating entity has ahigher priority than the second network operating entity for accessingthe second resource, and wherein the downlink control information istransmitted based on the first network operating entity having thehigher priority. In some embodiments, wherein the second resourceincludes a time period including a plurality of priority-basedreservation periods, wherein the first network operating entity has alower priority than the second network operating entity in the timeperiod, wherein the apparatus further includes means for monitoring fora reservation from the second network operating entity during areservation period of the plurality of priority-based reservationperiods corresponding to a priority of the second network operatingentity, and wherein the downlink control information is transmittedbased on the monitoring. In some embodiments, the apparatus furthercomprises means for monitoring for a sounding reference signal (SRS)from the wireless communication device in the second resource; and meansfor transmitting another downlink control information including anuplink scheduling grant for the wireless communication device based onthe monitoring. In some embodiments, wherein the first network operatingentity is a general authorized access (GAA) user of the spectrum. Insome embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing alisten-before-talk (LBT) in a time period within the second resource,wherein the downlink control information is transmitted based on theLBT. In some embodiments, wherein the spectrum includes a first portionfor sharing among priority access license (PAL) network operatingentities and a second portion for sharing among general authorizedaccess (GAA) network operating entities, and wherein the first resourceand the second resource are within the second portion.

As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and dependingon the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutionsand variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus,configurations and methods of use of the devices of the presentdisclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In lightof this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited tothat of the particular embodiments illustrated and described herein, asthey are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should befully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and theirfunctional equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:allocating, by a spectrum resource control unit, a first resource forexclusive access by a first network operating entity in a spectrumshared by the first network operating entity and a second networkoperating entity, the exclusive access configured for at least one of anetwork information communication or a feedback communication;allocating, by the spectrum resource control unit, a second resource inthe spectrum for shared access by the first network operating entity andthe second network operating entity, the shared access configured for atleast a downlink control information communication; and transmitting, bythe spectrum resource control unit to the first network operating entityand the second network operating entity, a configuration indicating thatthe first resource is allocated for exclusive access by the firstnetwork operating entity and the second resource is allocated for sharedaccess by the first network operating entity and the second networkoperating entity, wherein the first network operating entity and thesecond network operating entity are priority access license (PAL)network operating entities of the spectrum, and wherein the methodfurther comprises: assigning, by the spectrum resource control unit, afirst access priority to the first network operating entity for theshared access of the second resource; and assigning, by the spectrumresource control unit, a second access priority to the second networkoperating entity for the shared access of the second resource, thesecond access priority being higher than the first access priority. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the network information communicationincludes at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB)communication by the first network operating entity or systeminformation (SI) communication by the first network operating entity. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the feedback communication is associatedwith at least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the exclusive access is further configuredfor at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC)by the first network operating entity, a paging communication by thefirst network operating entity, or a random-access procedurecommunication by the first network operating entity.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the downlink control information communication includesat least one of a scheduling grant communication by the first networkoperating entity, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) communicationby the first network operating entity, or a channel stateinformation-reference signal (CSI-RS) communication by the first networkoperating entity.
 6. A method of wireless communication, comprising:allocating, by a spectrum resource control unit, a first resource forexclusive access by a first network operating entity in a spectrumshared by the first network operating entity and a second networkoperating entity, the exclusive access configured for at least one of anetwork information communication or a feedback communication;allocating, by the spectrum resource control unit, a second resource inthe spectrum for shared access by the first network operating entity andthe second network operating entity, the shared access configured for atleast a downlink control information communication; and transmitting, bythe spectrum resource control unit to the first network operating entityand the second network operating entity, a configuration indicating thatthe first resource is allocated for exclusive access by the firstnetwork operating entity and the second resource is allocated for sharedaccess by the first network operating entity and the second networkoperating entity, wherein the first network operating entity is apriority access license (PAL) network operating entity of the spectrum,wherein the first resource and the second resource are in a firstportion of the spectrum, and wherein the method further comprises:allocating, by the spectrum resource control unit, a third resource in asecond portion of the spectrum for shared access by a plurality ofgeneral authorized access (GAA) network operating entities, the secondportion being different from the first portion; and allocating, by thespectrum resource control unit, a fourth resource in the second portionof the spectrum for exclusive access by one of the plurality of GAAnetwork operating entities.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thenetwork information communication includes at least one of asynchronization signal block (SSB) communication by the first networkoperating entity or system information (SI) communication by the firstnetwork operating entity.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the feedbackcommunication is associated with at least one of a hybrid automaticrepeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement(ACK/NACK) communication by the first network operating entity or achannel state information (CSI) report communication by the firstnetwork operating entity.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein theexclusive access is further configured for at least one of anultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) by the first networkoperating entity, a paging communication by the first network operatingentity, or a random-access procedure communication by the first networkoperating entity.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the downlinkcontrol information communication includes at least one of a schedulinggrant communication by the first network operating entity, ademodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the first networkoperating entity, or a channel state information-reference signal(CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity.
 11. Anapparatus comprising: a processor configured to: allocate a firstresource for exclusive access by a first network operating entity in aspectrum shared by the first network operating entity and a secondnetwork operating entity, the exclusive access configured for at leastone of a network information communication or a feedback communication;and allocate a second resource in the spectrum for shared access by thefirst network operating entity and the second network operating entity,the shared access configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and a transceiver configured to transmit, to the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity, aconfiguration indicating that the first resource is allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource is allocated for shared access by the first network operatingentity and the second network operating entity, wherein the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity arepriority access license (PAL) network operating entities of thespectrum, and wherein the processor is further configured to: assign afirst access priority to the first network operating entity for theshared access of the second resource; and assign a second accesspriority to the second network operating entity for the shared access ofthe second resource, the second access priority being higher than thefirst access priority.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theexclusive access is configured for at least one of: the networkinformation communication including at least one of a synchronizationsignal block (SSB) communication by the first network operating entityor system information (SI) communication by the first network operatingentity, or the feedback communication associated with at least one of ahybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity, and whereinthe downlink control information communication includes at least one ofa scheduling grant communication by the first network operating entity,a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the firstnetwork operating entity, or a channel state information-referencesignal (CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity. 13.The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the exclusive access is furtherconfigured for at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC) by the first network operating entity, a pagingcommunication by the first network operating entity, or a random-accessprocedure communication by the first network operating entity.
 14. Anapparatus comprising: a processor configured to: allocate a firstresource for exclusive access by a first network operating entity in aspectrum shared by the first network operating entity and a secondnetwork operating entity, the exclusive access configured for at leastone of a network information communication or a feedback communication;and allocate a second resource in the spectrum for shared access by thefirst network operating entity and the second network operating entity,the shared access configured for at least a downlink control informationcommunication; and a transceiver configured to transmit, to the firstnetwork operating entity and the second network operating entity, aconfiguration indicating that the first resource is allocated forexclusive access by the first network operating entity and the secondresource is allocated for shared access by the first network operatingentity and the second network operating entity, wherein the firstnetwork operating entity is a priority access license (PAL) networkoperating entity of the spectrum, wherein the first resource and thesecond resource are in a first portion of the spectrum, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to: allocate a third resource in asecond portion of the spectrum for shared access by a plurality ofgeneral authorized access (GAA) network operating entities, the secondportion being different from the first portion; and allocate a fourthresource in the second portion of the spectrum for exclusive access byone of the plurality of GAA network operating entities.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein the exclusive access is configured for atleast one of: the network information communication including at leastone of a synchronization signal block (SSB) communication by the firstnetwork operating entity or system information (SI) communication by thefirst network operating entity, or the feedback communication associatedwith at least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) communication by thefirst network operating entity or a channel state information (CSI)report communication by the first network operating entity, and whereinthe downlink control information communication includes at least one ofa scheduling grant communication by the first network operating entity,a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) communication by the firstnetwork operating entity, or a channel state information-referencesignal (CSI-RS) communication by the first network operating entity. 16.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the exclusive access is furtherconfigured for at least one of an ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC) by the first network operating entity, a pagingcommunication by the first network operating entity, or a random-accessprocedure communication by the first network operating entity.